1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tilting apparatus that makes a moving section, for example a display section and an operation section, provided in an electronic apparatus body perform a tilting operation, and relates to an electronic apparatus equipped with the tilting apparatus.
In the invention, the term “rotation” includes angular displacement of less than 360 degrees, or rotation of 360 degrees or more.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a tilting mechanism that has been in practical use to make an electronic apparatus perform a tilting operation. FIG. 90 is a cross sectional view of an electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301 of the first conventional technology. The electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301 serves as a tilting mechanism, in which a pair of support members 302 is coupled to an end portion of an electronic apparatus 303. By drive unit 304 reciprocating the pair of support members 302, the electronic apparatus 303 in a predetermined position can move at a slant in one direction. As an example, refer to JP-A 10-51712 (1998) (pages 4 to 6, and FIG. 1).
In the electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301 of the first conventional technology, the electronic apparatus 303 is configured to movable at a slant in one direction. Through such slant movement of the electronic apparatus 303, the electronic apparatus 303 is increased in functionality. In such an electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301, however, the electronic apparatus 303 can move at a slant only in one direction, and the inclinable range is thus small. With the small inclinable range, the electronic apparatus 303 may not fulfill its functionality as expected. Exemplified here is a case of applying the electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301 to a tilting mechanism of an on-vehicle display. With this being the case, to make the display, i.e., the electronic apparatus 303, come into conformity with a user's eye point, the electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301 is disposed at an angle with some tilt upward in the front. With this disposition, however, the electronic apparatus 303 problematically reflects sun's rays, and displays thereon reflections of landscape, e.g., sky. Even if the electronic apparatus 303 is further made to move at a slant for betterment, it only aggravates such reflection problem in most cases, and the viewability of the electronic apparatus 303 is reduced for images to be displayed thereon.
Considered next is a possibility for the electronic apparatus drive mechanism 301 to be equipped with a reproduction device for reproduction of recording media, e.g., compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs). For inserting/removing a recording medium to/from the reproduction device, the electronic apparatus 303 is made to move at a slant to expose a recording medium insertion/removal port, which is not shown, of the reproduction device. With this being the case, however, making the electronic apparatus 303 move at a slant only in one direction will block the user's view depending on his or her eye point. This resultantly makes difficult for the user to see where the insertion/removal port is. The user finds it thus difficult to insert or remove the recording medium, in other words, the operability of other electronic apparatus is reduced. As such, the electronic apparatus 303 being tiltable only in one direction from its predetermined position cannot satisfy the functionality as intended.
Furthermore, the technology of making a display section of a vehicle-mounted terminal device or the like perform the tilting operation at a desired angle has been put in practical use in various forms. FIG. 74 is an exploded perspective view of a vehicle-mounted display device of a second conventional technology. The vehicle-mounted display device of the second conventional technology is configured by a chassis 2, a support plate 3 that supports a display section 1 from below, side frames 4 provided to right and left of the chassis 2, and a holding plate 5 for use for keeping hold of the display section 1 with respect to the side frames 4 at a predetermined angle. The support plate 3 is provided on the chassis 2 so as to be freely displaced thereagainst at its end, and the side frames 4 are each formed with a fitting slot 9 extending in the vertical direction.
The holding plate 5 is provided with sliding surfaces that slide in contact with the side frames 4, and the sliding surfaces are each formed with a plurality of attachment holes 8a on its upper portion at regular intervals. The sliding surfaces are each also formed with, on its lower portions, first and second pins 7 and 8 that extend outward to engage with the corresponding fitting slot 9. The second pin 8 is so provided as to be attachable/detachable to/from any of the attachment holes 8a. 
FIGS. 75A and 75B are each a side view showing a tilted display section 1 of a vehicle-mounted display device. In the above-described configuration, when the second pin 8 to be attached to the attachment hole 8a is changed in position, the first pin 7 is accordingly guided to the fitting slot 9 so that the display section 1 is angularly displaced at one end position of the support plate 3. As such, the display section 1 can be made to perform a tilting operation. As exemplarily shown in FIG. 75A, the display section 1 can be made to perform the tilting operation upward when the second pin 8 is attached to the attachment hole 8a in a close range of the display section 1. As exemplarily shown in FIG. 75B, the display section 1 can be made to perform the tilting operation downward when the second pin 8 is attached to the attachment hole 8a at some space from the display section 1. As an example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2002-154382.
In a third conventional technology, a display device is configured to be tiltable against the apparatus body. The display device is provided with hinge sections each at its upper and lower portions for tilting operation. To make the display device perform an upward tilting operation, the lower portion of the display device is detached from the lower hinge section, and the display device is angularly displaced against the upper hinge section. On the other hand, to make the display device perform a downward tilting operation, the upper portion of the display device is detached from the upper hinge section, and the display device is angularly displaced against the lower hinge section. As such, the display device can perform both upward and downward tilt operations. As an example, refer to JP-A 7-168530 (1995).
The problem with the second conventional technology is that, to make the display section perform the tilting operation, there needs to annoyingly change the position of the second pin 8 for every tilting operation. What is more, when the second pin 8 is removed from the attachment hole 8a to make the display section perform the tilting operation, there is a possibility of making the display section unstable so that the display section may perform the tilt operation even if not desired.
The problem with the third conventional technology is that, when the display device is made to perform the tilting operation, the two hinge sections may be damaged as being detachable. Moreover, because the display device is electrically controlled by the apparatus body, with the hinge portions being detachable, the configuration becomes complicated to establish an electrical connection between the display device and the apparatus body.